This month’s issue of Excellence (2/08, page 102) has the market update on the 964 and 993 series Porsche 911 models. These are my favorite Porsche 911’s hands down. And I’m not alone as the market would show. But on the other hand, the Excellence report shows that prices are still dropping. So low in fact, they indicate that ‘excellent’ examples of all 964 Carrera 2 models command under $30k, and well under $20k for ‘so-so’ examples. My first reaction was disbelief as I’d love to own a good-to-decent 964 for under $20k. Where are these examples I thought to myself?!
So I immediately surfed over to Rennlist, TheSamba, Route30Classics, Craigslist, eBay Motors, and Pelican Parts for private party listings (I trust private party listings far more as a rule than dealer listings). Almost all of the 964’s listed on these sites were either in range as Cabriolet’s or out of range. Which begs the following question:
- Is there a ton of negotiating room in these ad’s?
- Am I looking in the wrong places?
- Or is Excellence wrong?
- How do they come up with these numbers?
- If they’re auction averages, isn’t it reasonable to assume that the cars purchased at auction were by brokers/dealers who added a markup of some sort?
There was one car that stood out in my search: 1990 Porsche Carrera 2 on Pelican Parts Classifieds
For Sale: 1990 Carrera 2 Coupe $19,000
120,000 miles
Exterior is in very good condition for the mileage
Interior is in excellent condition
Engine is very strong with no drips
Lowered, with Bilstein sport shocks
Late model year rear brake calipers (same as fronts)
Factory whale tail
Wheels are 17″ aftermarket, I believe Mille Miglia Cup I
Recent (Dec 17, 2007) major service included:
Valve adjustment
Filters, fluids, plugs
Repacked all 4 CV joints
New air temp sensor
New oxygen sensor
New brake light switch
Replaced left rear bumper heat shield
Includes car cover!The car does not have a radio. If you want me to install an in-dash unit, I will provide one of my choice (radio + CD). In either case the asking price remains the same.
Update 1.6.08: Price dropped to $18k. Maybe there are good examples out there for well under $20k…?
This car looks really solid from the pictures, and the black on black is very sharp (Update:Ed says the car is green and looking at the larger pics, it does look like a really dark green. Thanks Ed!). The only flag in my mind is that this car may have been used as a test bed or track day car. The owner sells application software to log telemetry data over video files generated at track events (VERY COOL!), and it could be assumed that this car was used accordingly. That said, many of the cars that I’ve seen at track days are easily in far better shape than the daily street warriors that show up. A decent inspection should put any worries to bed if the car is in good nick.
So what do you think? I’m hoping that Paul from Sports Car Shop in Eugene, Oregon, will comment as he is my best Porsche resource! Update 1.7.08:Check out Paul’s assessment in the comments.
dc